GovWire

MicroCarb is the first European mission intended to characterise greenhouse gas fluxes on Earths surface and gauge how much carbon is being absorbed by oceans and forests, the main sinks on the planet.

Monitoring the data will allow us to anticipate how the ecosystems will react to global warming. The UK has a range of roles from assembling and testing the satellite, ground segment algorithms to leading UK scientists on the Mission Advisory Group.

Key facts

Data from MicroCarb will help us to monitor international progress in meeting the Paris Agreement climate target of limiting global surface warming to well below 2C of pre-industrial temperatures.

MicroCarb has a special city-scanning observing mode that will allow us, for the first time, to map CO2 emissions across cities which are a large contributor to global emissions.

The UK is involved with the Assembly, Integration and Testing of satellite, design and build of key parts, data collection, algorithm development and scientific mission preparation.

The mission is due to launch no earlier than 2025.

Stakeholders: CNES, TAS-UK, RAL Space, NPL, GMV, University of Leicester, University of Edinburgh